Apple: Success Or Failure?
Grammarian
Everyone knows Apple was a financial disaster, but was it an artistic
success? Do you think the catalog is worthwhile? Was it an
interesting, but flawed, vision of music and artists, or just some
compromise business arrangement for 4 guys who didn't want to be
together anymore? Is it even noteworthy in the history of independent
labels?
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Mister Charlie
"Grammarian" <Gramm...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:58d092e3.02122...@posting.google.com...
> Opinion time.
>
> Everyone knows Apple was a financial disaster, but was it an artistic
> success? Do you think the catalog is worthwhile? Was it an
> interesting, but flawed, vision of music and artists, or just some
> compromise business arrangement for 4 guys who didn't want to be
> together anymore? Is it even noteworthy in the history of independent
> labels?
It was just a vanity label, in spite of all the high-minded ideals that
accompanied its birth. It became the Beatles own operation, and no one
was really much helped by Apple. Artistically little they claimed they
wanted to happen ever did. James Taylor is a case in point.
Cool labels tho.
e.c.buis
by a band themselves.
As such already important. But the artists signed to the label,like Mary
Hopkin, James Taylor &
Badfinger made it big through these releases.
Also a few lp's that are very worthwhile listening to, would have had
great difficulty getting released..
The two John Taverner albums, Doris Troy, Lon&Derrek v.Eaton..
Several lp's brought a different sound to a much bigger audience, just by
being released through the Beatles
' own ' label, The Hari Krshna Temple lp, the soundtracks that were
released, the lp's by the honourable Pandit Ravi Shankar..
I would like to see all the releases reissued on cd, El Topo on cd would
be great... and I can't wait to hear
Raga on cd either.
It's getting harder and harder to replace records because dealers are
asking insane prices for them now..
In my opinion Apple is a great label, and has it's place in history..
An Apple a Day,.....
greetings,
TGW
Grammarian wrote:
--
" How come youre so afraid
of things that don't make any sense to you ?
Bob Dylan - Tarantula
Mister Charlie
"e.c.buis" <e.c....@chello.nl> wrote in message
news:3E0F3E6D...@chello.nl...
> Apple as a record label was the first or one of the first label set
up
> by a band themselves.
Artist labels and vanity labels go back as far as rock n roll. As to
whether they were the first BAND..., well, maybe, can't think of any
others offhand.
> As such already important. But the artists signed to the label,like
Mary
> Hopkin, James Taylor &
> Badfinger made it big through these releases.
Not Taylor. And Hopkins was a passing fad, two songs and she's gone.
Badfinger was a better (probably the best next to Billy Preston) Apple
band but still...limited success. Apple was not serving its other
artists, it was still mainly a Beatle factory, and everyone else
suffered. Points for the idea, but the execution sucked.
>
> Also a few lp's that are very worthwhile listening to, would have had
> great difficulty getting released..
> The two John Taverner albums, Doris Troy, Lon&Derrek v.Eaton..
All marginal arists except Troy, and she was only big in the UK.
>
> Several lp's brought a different sound to a much bigger audience, just
by
> being released through the Beatles
> ' own ' label, The Hari Krshna Temple lp, the soundtracks that were
> released, the lp's by the honourable Pandit Ravi Shankar..
'Much bigger'? I doubt that! No one was interested then, and that's
why they are so rare now.
>
> I would like to see all the releases reissued on cd, El Topo on cd
would
> be great... and I can't wait to hear
> Raga on cd either.
There HAS been talk about that.......
BlackMonk
"Mister Charlie" <smoker...@myway.com> wrote in message
news:aunf4b$8qs9j$1...@ID-63206.news.dfncis.de...
>
> "e.c.buis" <e.c....@chello.nl> wrote in message
> news:3E0F3E6D...@chello.nl...
> > Apple as a record label was the first or one of the first label set
> up
> > by a band themselves.
>
> Artist labels and vanity labels go back as far as rock n roll.
Further. Capitol itself was started by Johnny Mercer.
If you're going beyond music, you have United Artists, started by Charlie
Chaplin, among others.
As to
> whether they were the first BAND..., well, maybe, can't think of any
> others offhand.
The Beach Boys come to mind.
Mister Charlie
"BlackMonk" <Blac...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
news:aunj8o$8pnke$1...@ID-133514.news.dfncis.de...
>
> "Mister Charlie" <smoker...@myway.com> wrote in message
> news:aunf4b$8qs9j$1...@ID-63206.news.dfncis.de...
> >
> > "e.c.buis" <e.c....@chello.nl> wrote in message
> > news:3E0F3E6D...@chello.nl...
> > > Apple as a record label was the first or one of the first label
set
> > up
> > > by a band themselves.
> >
> > Artist labels and vanity labels go back as far as rock n roll.
>
> Further. Capitol itself was started by Johnny Mercer.
That's right!
>
> If you're going beyond music, you have United Artists, started by
Charlie
> Chaplin, among others.
That's true...
>
> As to
> > whether they were the first BAND..., well, maybe, can't think of any
> > others offhand.
>
> The Beach Boys come to mind.
Damn! You're right, good recall.
>
>
Mike Smith
> Charlie
> > Chaplin, among others.
>
> That's true...
Not just Chapiln, but also Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W.
Griffith help founded, as well.
Barry Hammond
and i am halfway through it ............it's very informitive on the day to
day happenings at Apple.
Barry
Frederick W. Harrison
> 'Much bigger'? I doubt that! No one was interested then, and that's
> why they are so rare now.
One of the reasons they are so rare is that the catalogue was pulled from
the market circa September 1974 as part of winding down Apple so that the
assets could be evaluated and assigned according to however the courts
deciding the legal matters and lawsuits related to the dissolution of the
Beatles ruled. Some of the titles ended up in the delete bins and the smart
people bought them then. (Which is how I got my David Peel "Pope Smokes
Dope" and some of the various Beatle solo LPs.) Of course when I found out
about the Jackie Lomax, Doris Troy, and other titles sometime later they
were nowhere to be found. Badfinger and Mary Hopkin albums disappeared prior
to the recall - sold through due to public demand.
For many years one could only hope to find unsold stock in a small record
store - or one of the used shops that were starting to spring up. At least,
for lps. Good luck trying to find singles.
Some of the Apple assets - stationary, envelopes, catalogues, and the
Christmas album - were sold to Old Brown Shoe in New York who sold them to
beginning collectors such as myself. They also acquired and sold the
animation cels from Yellow Submarine, though by this time the ones with a
Beatle in them had been snapped up.
Then in the late 70s (1978?) the remaining record inventory (at least in the
US) was released for sale through an ad in Rolling Stone by a company
operating under the name Annuit Coeptus. Shortly thereafter the product
began appearing in the stores, possibly through the delete jobbers such as
Rose Records in Chicago. I know that Sam The Record Man in Toronto got their
stock through a delete jobber. Collectors quickly snapped up the key
titles - I bought the John Tavener, Modern Jazz Quartet, Ravi Shankar & Ali
Akbar Khan, James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, Badfinger, El Topo, and Come Together
LPs at that time. Lots of 45s too, some with picture sleeves.
A few years later a friend snagged me a copy of John Tavener's Celtic
Requiem from a used shop - though not in great shape as it had a slight
warp. Tavener was in Toronto recently to premiere a new composition - who'd
have thought he'd get his first recording contract through Ringo Starr?
Another friend also uncovered a French version of "Those Were The Days" by
Mary Hopkin on Apple - released for the Quebec market - that I have yet to
find for myself.
Then for many years, nothing was available, save a lucky find at a used
shop.
Suddenly in the mid 90's, The Beatles Anthology was upon us and with it the
reactivation of the Apple catalogue for the first time on CD. Finally a
chance to hear Badfinger, et al on compact disc, with bonus tracks. An Apple
singles anthology was promised, but never materialized. I put off buying
some titles thinking they'd be available for a few years at least. Then
suddenly the catalogue was deleted, save for the Badfinger CDs. A mad but
fruitless rush to snap up the titles I wanted ensued. Working in music
retail and having access to the chain warehouse ought to have given me an
advantage, especially as all product from our stores would have to be
returned to our warehouse, but next to nothing came back from the stores -
whatever had been in the stores had sold. And what did come back were the
titles I had already purchased.
It wasn't that nobody was interested, it was more those that were interested
couldn't get the bloody product during the narrow windows of opportunity
when it was available. Which is why there is still a demand and a premium
price for anything in good to excellent condition. Since its start as a
record label in 1968 I reckon that the catalogue has only been available for
less than ten years out of a thirty-four year existence - and some of those
years were the sell off of the original lps and 45s as cut-outs. Sure, there
were some titles that never sold (Come Together was the last of the US
cut-outs to sell at our store, but that was really an ABKCO soundtrack album
using Apple as a distributor since Klein was managing Apple at the time and
milking the connection for all it was worth, hence the title of the movie)
but overall the label was a success story that could have been bigger if it
hadn't got buggered by the Beatles break-up, bad investments (Magic Alex -
did he ever produce something other than boxes with blinking lights?), Allen
Klein, and the excesses of hippy culture.
What really ticks me off though is that Apple doesn't licence their
recordings to other labels so that these items may yet again appear in the
shops. The only exceptions are the Best of Badfinger which appears on
Capitol and the Radha Krishna Temple which is licensed to a small label from
Quebec. C'mon Neil Aspinall - shit or get off the pot!
Hey. Apple might even have been bigger if they had signed Crosby, Stills &
Nash who came knocking at their door with a demo of "Blackbird" with the
intention of getting signed to the fledgling label.
--
Frederick Harrison <><
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"A stone may change the course of the river."
C.S Lewis